critical seo strategy

5 Critical SEO Strategies+Actionables & Deliverables for YTD12

Steve Wiidemanwww.ThatTrainingGuide.com

Three Principles of SEOWhat is SEO, in Plain English?

1. Having content to match search terms

2. Other websites referencing a target website

3. User behavior (“click and stay”)

#1: Research

Keyword Research – The Easy Way

1. Search for what you do in Google and choose 5 ‘true’ competitors

2. Use SEMRush.com, SpyFu.com, or KeywordSpy.com

3. Paste data into separate tabs in an Excel workbook

4. Replace “Trend” with “Domain”

5. Aggregate in a single tab

6. Add a column for “Frequency” and use the number “1” for all

7. Insert a pivot table and play with the data to test freq. & value

#1: Research

Keyword Research – Now What?

1. Create a Content Tracking spreadsheet

2. Put your final keywords into a rank-tracking system

• Option 1: Use Google & Bing Webmaster Tools

• Option 2: Use industry tools, BringShare or WebPosition

#1: Research

Links & Visibility Research

1. Use OpenSiteExplorer.org, ahrefs.com, or majesticseo.com

2. Capture as much data as possible

3. Sort and filter

a. Most common links

b. Most valuable links

#1: Research

Links & Visibility – Now What?

1. Import list to Buzzstream.com or Google Docs (spreadsheet)

2. Delegate link building efforts

3. Delegate link baiting efforts

4. Delegate social media efforts

5. Measure activity via KPI’s

#2: Improve Your Content

Page Structure Best Practices:

Heading and Title = HTML Title & One H1 Heading

Tables and Illustrations = Lower Bounce Rate & Content Uniqueness

Thesis Statement = Meta Description

Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation = See Page 15 of the GSG

Bibliography > Evaluating Sources for Authorship & Authority = Links

Plagiarism = Duplicate Content

Language and Style = Geographic Targeting by Primary Language

#2: Improve Your Content

Sales Best Practices:

Authority

Trust

Reciprocity

Urgency

Scarcity

Emotion

Authenticity

Titles & Descriptions

You Only Get One Chance to Make a First Impression

Get All the SEO Secrets to Rank Well in Google HereDownload over 50 marketing tips and SEO secrets to help you get your website to the top of the search engines without spending money.www.SomeSEOSite.com/seo-secrets.html

SEO SecretsOur title sucks, please don’t click here ever. Yes, this is the same description we used everywhere. Seo secrets, seo secrets, seo secrets, stuff, stuff, stuff, you ugly searcher.www.Spamalot.com/seo-secrets.html

But J.C. Penny got away with it!

Titles & Descriptions

You Only Get One Chance to Make a First Impression

Get All the SEO Secrets to Rank Well in Google HereDownload over 50 marketing tips and SEO secrets to help you get your website to the top of the search engines without spending money.www.SomeSEOSite.com/seo-secrets.html

Call-to-Action + Keyword Theme + Value PropositionDifferent call-to-action + same keyword theme + re-written value proposition or different value proposition.www.yoursite.com/your-keyword-theme.html

Answer “Yes” to 5 Important Questions

1. Is there an easy way for people to share it?

2. Is it more useful and relevant than alternatives?

3. Is there enough awesome info to keep them here?

4. Is it always easy to find “buy” or “contact” buttons?

5. Will they want to link, share, Like, bookmark, Tweet?

Get a Second OpinionQuality Assurance is Everything

1. Seek Moonlighting English Majors

2. Use Mechanical Turk Workers

3. Send Out a Survey

4. Spell-Check in Word

5. Use Elance, oDesk, Freelancer

6. Hit up Your Facebook Friends

7. Send a Few DM’s in Twitter

#3: Improve External ContentBe a Contributor

Guest blog on popular industry destinations (or verticals)

MyBlogGuest.com

GuestBlogIt.com

Be a guest author on popular industry destinations (or verticals)

Answer public questions and become an authority

Quora.com, Askville.com, Yahoo! Answers.com, etc.

Comment on industry blogs and mention the brand tactfully

#4: Integrate Social Media ContentThink Engagement

NOT Buttons

#4: Social MediaInline Tweets

Inline +1’s

Inline Share/Recommend

Inline Comments & Ratings

Figure out ways to allow

others to engage with

your content.

#5: Social Media CampaignsTheme Ideas

1. How to…

2. Tips for…

3. Buyer’s Guide to…

4. Rockstar of the Week

5. Tip of the Day

6. Ask the Expert

7. Weekly Top 10

http://bit.ly/smm-tracking

http://bit.ly/smm-tracking

Advanced Reporting(Refer to Excel Spreadsheet)

Questions?

Wiideman has been working with Search Engine Optimization Since 2003 and authored several eBooks on the topic while working with Fortune 100 & 500 organizations.

He has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Response Magazine, National Journal, Visibility Magazine and many industry blogs, including the Marketing Sherpa Blog.

He is currently a consultant to several corporate brands. In 2011, Wiideman is working with his team on That Training Guide, an Internet Marketing private membership site.

Sign up free for 14 days at http://www.thattrainingguide.com/

@seosteve

Steve Wiidemanwww.SEOSteve.com Facebook.com/stevewiidemanP. (562) 732-4417E. info@seosteve.com

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